Byleth's Bright Idea
by Malpais Quanta
Summary: The White Heron Cup is coming up, and Byleth has an idea on how to win it for the Black Eagles. This is my Pledge fic for QuoteMyFoot.


Hubert wasn't exactly sure what to make of his new professor.

Respectfully, he had to acknowledge that Byleth knew what he was doing. He knew how to work with each of them, how best to help each student learn the subjects he was teaching them.

On a personal level, however, Byleth baffled him. He wasn't like the other teachers. Oddly enough, unlike the students at the monastery, he wasn't affected at all by his creepiness, no matter how creepy he had tried to be. He'd not even been phased by his threats when they had first met!

(Edelgard had been slightly amused after finding out he'd been forced to write "I will not threaten the faculty" one hundred times by Byleth before his first class teaching them as a result of said threat.)

Though why he had been called to the professor's office, he did not know. He certainly hoped it wasn't for one of those tea parties the latest transfer to the Black Eagles had talked about.

He supposed he would find out once he got there. Now, which one of these doors led to the professor's office?

He tried the first one he walked by and-

"Come in!"

-Hubert opened the door to an unexpected sight.

Byleth was there, sat as his desk with a huge grin plastered on his face. On either side of the desk stood Ferdinand and Edelgard, both wearing contemplative looks on their faces.

"Hubert!" The grin grew even wider. "Close the door, I wanted to speak to you."

Hubert complied, standing straight up as he turned to face Byleth. "Professor. You requested that I come to see you." He glared at Ferdinand, who glared back. "I take it this is regarding the White Heron Cup?"

"It is." Byleth's eyes flitted between Edelgard, Hubert and Ferdinand. "I have decided on our representative for our house."

"Lady Edelgard?"

"Edelgard shook her head.

"Then why is he here?" Hubert narrowed his eyes. "Do not tell me you intend to have him be our representative?"

"Actually, no." Byleth's eyes danced with manic glee. "You shall be the representative for the Black Eagles."

"Me?"

"Yes, you."

"How whimsical of you. If that is your choice, then I will shoulder the burden." Hubert frowned now, no longer glaring at Ferdinand. "But what of Lady Edelgard? She would be a much better choice for this than me."

"I agree. Which is why she will be helping me to teach you how to dance. I assume you have some training?"

"Of course."

"And Ferdinand will be teaching you as well." Byleth held up a hand to shut down the incoming question. "Trust in your professor, Hubert. I know what I am doing."

"Very well. I shall take my leave." Hubert opened the door and left, leaving the three behind in the office.

"I have to teach him?" Ferdinand looked at Byleth, who had covered his face with his hand. "Professor, you cannot be serious. I would much rather be the representative than to teach him."

"Trust in your professor, Ferdinand. I think I know how to make this work."

"You think?"

"Yep. Edelgard trusts me with this. You should too." Byleth clapped his hands together in an excited manner, before blinking and clearing his throat. "I apologise, that was unprofessional of me. You two may take you leave."

Both students did so at once, leaving Byleth in his office alone to stare at a calendar. "Now all I need to do is plan this out."

…

While Hubert was certainly willing to trust in his professor, he certainly wasn't willing to put up with a noble who tried to be above his station, especially one with two left feet.

"If you cannot dance, then why are you trying to teach me?"

"The professor asked me to help, and that is what I am attempting to do!"

Edelgard watched as Ferdinand climbed back to his feet, bickering with Hubert once more, and looked in the direction of Byleth, who was frowning at the two men. He nodded to her, and she stepped forward. "Enough. Ferdinand, you may take a break. I will instruct Hubert next."

Ferdinand shot one last glare at Hubert before stepping away, walking over towards where the Byleth was currently sitting down. "I must repeat myself, Professor. Hubert is not the correct choice for our representative. He's simply not charming enough."

"So if he gets better, you'll find him charming?"

"Professor! Be professional!" Why oh why did they get the quirkiest teacher? "If you insist on having Hubert be our representative, then why must you have me teach him?"

"I have a theory."

"Another theory?"

"Yes." Byleth pouted. "This one actually makes sense.

"Like your theory on Crests?"

"That theory was sound to me," Byleth muttered under his breath. "No, nothing to do with that." He pointed at Hubert, who was mimicking Edelgard's dance with a good deal more grace than before. "My theory is that if someone has something to motivate them, they will be more likely to do better."

"But what on Earth could be motivating Hubert? It's certainly not me."

"Actually, it is." Byleth chuckled at Ferdinand's glare. "You know how you said you wanted to be the house representative instead of Hubert?"

"Yes?"

"Well… by having you here, it keeps reminding him that you want to be the representative instead. As little faith as he has in himself when it comes to dancing, he does not want to let us down."

"And Edelgard…?"

Byleth shrugged. "She understands Hubert better than me. Hubert will do as she asks, it'll mean he'll learn faster."

"Professor…" Ferdinand shook his head. "Your theory makes no sense at all."

…

"I am…" Hubert shook his head as he walked into Byleth's office. "I am not sure the judges were in their right minds to vote me to be the winner."

Byleth smiled and shook his head. "Nah. You did good, Hubert! You deserved to win!"

"Heh." Hubert rubbed his neck apprehensively. "It's unbelievable. I never imagined that I would win the White Heron Cup.

"You should have more faith in yourself," Edelgard said. "Your performance was excellent."

"Thank you, Lady Edelgard." A ghost of a smile flitted onto Hubert's face. "Your kind words are too much."

"I will admit I was wrong."

The smile vanished.

"You did look charming out there. The professor was right to pick you." Ferdinand glared at Byleth to stop him from saying anything else.

"Thank you, Ferdinand. I must admit, it felt a lot less grotesque than I thought my performance was going to be."

"It was." Ferdinand turned his attention fully onto the professor. "But professor-"

"Ferdinand," Hubert said warningly.

"If you ever force me to work with this lap dog again, there will be a problem."

"That's a shame. I had a group task for you three." Byleth let out a sigh. "But I can find something else for you to do instead."

And that is how Ferdinand found himself being forced to write "I will not threaten the faculty" one hundred times by Byleth before his next class with the professor, as opposed than enjoying a celebratory tea party with Hubert, Edelgard and Byleth.

All in all, Hubert found that he had quite enjoyed dancing. The tea party wasn't so bad either.

...

_Author's Note: Apologies if this has poor characterization, I haven't played too far in Three Houses yet and am working off support videos on YouTube._

_Come find me on Tumblr at UlyssesQuanta if you wanna chat!_


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